Review Blog

Aug 21 2016

Burning by Danielle Rollins

Bloomsbury, 2016. ISBN 9781408869956
(Age: Mature 14+) Just before Angela's scheduled release from juvie,
THINGS start happening. First, a 10-year-old girl (Jessica) is
brought in under high security. Then, a new program called Sci-Girls
is causing a major stir among the inmates. There's something about
Jessica, Sci-Girls, and the director of Sci-Girls (Dr. Gruen) that
freaks Angela out. Weird things begin happening, and soon it becomes
clear that there's evil in this prison that has nothing to do with
the girls who are serving sentences.
I enjoyed reading this book. I enjoyed the characters, the writing
style and the atmosphere. I couldn't put the book down. I was
enjoying getting to know the characters' back stories and how they
all interacted with each other. However, it then started along a
different path that was like reading an entirely different book.
Even though I persisted until the end it had just become so
far-fetched I literally thought I was in another story. The ending
finished rather abruptly and left many questions hanging in the air.
There is a companion book being written which will be released in
2017 which I think if the two books were read together, the story
line might come together nicely. Due to the couple of incidents of
murder and a sex scene I would recommend this book for a mature
14-year-old and above. Teacher's
notes are available.
Jody Holmes